Killdeer, North Dakota – Over the last two weeks, residents of Killdeer in Dunn County, North Dakota have learned that around one hundred miles of road in the county, as well as other locations such as flower beds, ball fields and parking lots, was laid with gravel containing an asbestos-like substance called erionite.

Erionite is located in several natural gravel deposits in the area, including the Killdeer Mountains, the White and Chalky buttes in Slope County, the “little Badlands” Stark County, and in other locations in the southwestern part of the state. Officials in Stark and Slope Counties have been asked not to use the gravel.

Since the discovery that the gravel was contaminated with erionite, the Environmental Protection Agency has been in the area conducting tests on the gravel, and meeting with locals to determine how to solve the problem. Now they plan to start testing local residents to find out if exposure to erionite has caused any health problems.

According to Steve Way, an EPA On-Scene Coordinator, some studies have shown that erionite causes cancer in lab rats. In Turkey, inhalation of erionite has been linked to lung diseases, including some mesothelioma-like cancers. However, the substance is not regulated by the EPA.

The EPA has tested samples of the erionite-containing gravel found in Dunn County, and determined the size of the particles were small enough to become airborne and be inhaled, and large enough to collect in the lungs.

The EPA has also been trying to determine what the effects of long-term exposure to the Dunn County erionite might be. EPA On-Scene Coordinator, Joyce Ackerman, believes it may be difficult to establish the long-term effects due to the difficulty of determining how much erionite locals have been exposed to.

Last week, EPA and North Dakota Department of Health officials met with locals to disseminate information on erionite and the tests that have been carried out in the area.

The EPA now hopes to start testing local volunteers to determine if long-term exposure to the erionite-containing gravel has caused any effects on health. Steve Way says the EPA plans to complete testing within around eighteen months.

Despite the EPA’s concerns and plans to determine whether the local erionite is harmful, some locals believe that the concern over the mineral is just making a mountain out of a molehill, and are more concerned over tax increases that might result if the county has to find the money to lay fresh gravel on roads and other local spots.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 1:46 pm and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, North Dakota. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.